Our room seemed to have a problem with being too warm, especially yesterday while in stormy Ft. Lauderdale. We recall that we had the same problem on the Amsterdam at times. Asking our room steward, he blamed it on embarkation day, with the gangway and deck A doors opened. We do have a projection clock that has a thermometer. It was a constant 80 degrees and climbing in our room. Thank goodness a tower fan was delivered, as it is one of our requests before every trip. In fact, none of our requests happened here such as getting 20 wire hangers, 3 sets of bath towels, and a bar of soap. The room steward did bring these things, but when we asked for the turndown evening service and the pillow candies, he said he would have to check with his supervisor. We got the feeling he really did not want to do it. We do understand that the first day on a cruise is stressful and tiring. On the other hand, our assistant steward was really nice, and a lot younger we might add. But he does not seem to be the boss here.
Our new President's Club letter stated that while on this ship, we are invited to have breakfast daily in the Pinnacle Grill. Club Orange exists here, but they do not have a special restaurant for those folks. A section in the back of the dining room, deck two, is reserved for them. So we decided to try the Pinnacle, and sure glad we did. Greeting us at the entrance was a dining room assistant who recently joined this ship from the N. Statendam. She knew us immediately, and welcomed us in. Seating us at a nice table by the window, we were given the best service. Yes, this will work just as well as Club Orange, perhaps even better with the glitzy surroundings.
The report from yesterday was never finished last night…just too tired. So Bill took a walk and noticed that the crew were lined up for Covid testing. Now we know why we did not see our room stewards this morning, and our room did not get serviced when we returned from breakfast. Something is up, and we will find out. By the way, yesterday's report # 111 showed some photos of an osprey with a 10 inch fish in its talons. It was spotted flying near the ship, before we left Port Everglades. It was another one of those unusual sightings.
Since there were several things not working in our room, we called Teresa and gave her the list. Shortly thereafter, the Head of Housekeeping arrived, and we showed her everything that was broken. First of all, the refrigerator worked like an oven. Obviously, it was broken. We had brought some cheese spreads with us, and they were warm to the touch. No choice but to dump them. If in doubt? Throw them out. Then the deadbolt lock on the cabin door was frozen and would not work. In addition, the veranda door had a broken handle, and it slammed so hard, it would wake the dead. When we showed her the damaged metal door frame on the veranda door, she shuddered. That was an accident waiting to happen. She even took photos of it. With her list, she them called each department to take care of it. Before she left, we asked about the crew getting tested. She said that the CDC was requiring all crew to be tested today, since this is a re-positioning cruise to Alaska. And Alaska is super strict with regulations, especially concerning Covid. No wonder our room stewards were absent this morning. They did show up after noontime.
Within minutes, the crew came with a replacement refrigerator, and installed it. Then the locksmith came and fixed the deadbolt. It was a five minute job. He also took care of the veranda door handle and adjusted the door closure bar, keeping it from slamming. Since he had WD 40 in his bag, we asked him to take care of some squeaky closets and bathroom doors. Job done. All that is left is the decaying metal door frame. That might be a bigger job.
The Captain came on for his noon talk and confirmed the fact that it was a very overcast day. No rain, and only 3 foot swells and 81 degrees. The forecast for tomorrow was about the same as today. The sun eventually did come out for a while. We spent a lot of the day sailing along the northeast coast of Cuba, getting pretty close at times. Good news is that the clocks will go back one hour tonight.
Lunch time was in the Lido with salads. Then we decided to try a pizza here, as we recalled it was very good on this ship. One of the waiters heard us say that, and he volunteered to order the pizza for us Although he wasn't sure what a Margarita pizza was, we explained it, and he filled out the order with extra onions and mushrooms. In about 15 minutes we had a crispy hot pizza that was delicious. It makes a difference with the type of oven that is used, and this ship has the right one. We will be back again for sure.
At 3:30pm, we had a call from Teresa checking to see if the room work was done. Yes it was, and we also asked about the Mariner welcome onboard gathering. It did happen at 11am this morning, but we never received our invite last night. Teresa had personally printed it, but somehow it never arrived. She was very apologetic, and insisted on sending us a bottle of wine. You know us…..we don't like wine, but we do like diet sodas. So she sent us 20 cans of diet Coke , which was very sweet of her. While talking on the phone, she lost the connection. Calling back, she said our phone would be tested in case it was not functioning right. Golly, what else can break?
We forgot to mention that yesterday we got a letter saying we did not complete all of the steps of the safety drill. Yes, we did have our cards scanned at the muster station, but we did not turn on the room TV to watch the drill. Somehow they knew that. So before breakfast, we found the drill, and let it play until the end. Must have worked since we heard no more.
Dinner looked good in the dining room, so we went back there for nicoise salads and prime rib. The meat was tender and tasty, served with green beans, and a baked potato. No room for dessert, our waiter looked crushed. They love to serve you all five courses if you can handle it. We have learned long ago, less is better.
Setting the clocks back was nice before retiring for the evening. One down, two more to go.
Bill & Mary Ann
Sunday, April 10, 2022
Report #112 Day At Sea En-Route To Cartagena, Columbia Sunny And Windy 79 Degrees
